Bound materials, such as text books, are often difficult to photocopy or scan using a photocopier or a flat bed scanner, respectively. A substantial downward pressure is required to force a particular page or pages of the bound material onto a planar scanning window of the photocopier or flat bed scanner so that the print which is close to the binding region of the bound material may come within the optical field of view of an optical reader disposed on the other side of the window. Sometimes, even with applied pressure, it is still not possible to bring the print within the field of view of the optical reader. As a result, in the case of photocopiers, the copy made may be blurred in the binding region. In the case of scanners, material near the binding region may be missed. Also, the downward pressure may damage the spine or binding of the bound material and increase the wear and tear of a copier scanning window thereby necessitating replacement of the material and window earlier than desired.
The present invention is intended to overcome the above difficulties.